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Makini Regal Martin

@makiniregal

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Founder + Creative Director of Zuri Rose® @worldofzurirose | Interior Designer @nuhausnewyork 📍Trini by way of Brooklyn

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2 years ago

Here she is!! I am so excited to finally reveal the cover of my beautiful, new alphabet book @worldofzurirose available for pre-orders on April 19th.

Zuri Rose, is a curious, imaginative, and rambunctious girl from Brooklyn, New York. She learned all about flowers from her mum who owns a flower shop in New York City’s flower district. Surrounded by flowers in her mum’s flower shop, Zuri invites readers on a journey as she shares fun facts about flowers.

Although Zuri Rose’s blackness is not central to the story, it was important for me to include Black characters as they continue to be underrepresented in children’s literature. In 2019, only 11.9% of U.S. children’s books had a Black main character.* I am elated that Black children will be able to see themselves and their families beautifully illustrated and positively represented in this book.

Sign up using the link in my bio to be the first to know when pre-orders are available.

Illustrations by @haleydoods

*Sourced from Cooperative Children’s Book Center

#thewonderfulworldofzurirose
#worldofzurirose
#flowersatoz
#alphabetbook
#stembookforkids by @makiniregal

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5 years ago

Broadway with the girls to celebrate @naturi4real in @bwaygatsby ! ✨ An incredible performance and such a fun night together. Naturi, you lit up that stage! 💐👏🏽

Get your girls together, get your tickets, and go see her shine! 💕

#thegreatgatsby by @makiniregal

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a day ago

Today was our first official day of fourth grade. 💗

I know she won’t remember every lesson I teach her.

But I hope she remembers what it felt like.

I hope she remembers a childhood that felt considered. A home that made room for her. A mother who believed the little things were worth celebrating.

That’s a big part of what homeschooling means to me.

Yes, there are academics and schedules and curriculum and all the practical things. But underneath all of that is something much simpler: I really love getting to spend this part of her childhood with her.

I wrote about our decision to homeschool, and the parts of it that are much more complicated than pretty first-day moments, in my next Substack.

Today, though, I just wanted to make her first day feel special.

Happy fourth grade, Zuri Rose. 🌸📚

Here’s to a beautiful year.

#tozuriwithlove #brooklynhomeschool by @makiniregal

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a month ago

Today, my sweet mum turns 75. 🤍

There are some people in this world who are just universally loved, and my mother is one of them.

She is joy. She is warmth. She is gentle and kind and generous. She has a laugh that takes over her entire body and makes everyone around her want to laugh too. She has spent her life loving people deeply, showing up for them, caring for them, and so often putting the people she loves before herself.

She was a gentle mother long before “gentle parenting” had a name. She listened. She apologized. She treated me with respect, even when I was a child. She made me feel seen and heard. And now I get to watch her pour that same tenderness into Zuri, who absolutely adores her.

At 75, my greatest wish for her is that she gives herself permission to receive all the love she has spent a lifetime giving away. I want her to be spoiled. To choose herself. To experience every beautiful thing this next chapter has waiting for her.

Because there is truly no one more deserving.

She is simply the best person I know.

We should all be so lucky to have a Rose.

Happy 75th birthday, Mommy. I love you more than words could ever say. ❤️🌹 by @makiniregal

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2 months ago

Today makes ten years of marriage. And I’ve been thinking a lot about the woman in this photograph and everything she thought she knew.

She had watched her parents be married her entire life. She had a very clear picture of what being a good wife looked like. And she was pretty sure she’d be good at it.

Ten years later, I look at her with a lot more grace.

There are things about marriage I understand now that I couldn’t have understood standing in that dress. Things about love. Family. Motherhood. Myself. And the parts of building a life with someone that will never make it into a beautiful photograph.

So that’s what I wrote about.

I Thought I Would Be Great at Marriage

A new essay on my Substack. Link in bio. 💍

#10yearanniversary #jamwiththemartins #10yearsmarried by @makiniregal

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2 months ago

We survived sleepaway camp!!! And by “we,” I absolutely mean me.

I have to admit, sending Zuri away for two weeks was much harder than I thought it would be. It was a big moment of growth for her, but maybe an even bigger exercise in letting go for me.

So naturally, I channeled all of those feelings into packing. Decorating her trunk, organizing every little packing cube, labeling all the things, and making sure she had little pieces of home tucked in with her became its own kind of therapy.

I couldn’t control how much I would miss her, but I could make sure she left feeling prepared, loved, and very, very packed 😆

And she did it. We did it. And somewhere in between all the packing and letting go, we both grew a little.

First-time sleepaway camp mamas, save this for next summer. I’ve already learned about 47 things I’ll do differently next time.

#tozuriwithlove #girlhood #sleepawaycamp by @makiniregal

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2 months ago

It’s been 24 hours since we dropped our daughter off at sleepaway camp.

She was brave. Confident. Excited.

She didn’t cry. She didn’t hesitate. In fact, she practically ushered us out of her cabin, reassuring us over and over that she was going to be just fine.

I couldn’t be prouder.

And yet, somewhere beneath that pride was a bit of sadness and grief.

As we drove away, it hit me that the child I left there will not be the exact same child I pick up in two weeks.

She’ll have stories that don’t include us. Inside jokes with new friends. Challenges she’ll navigate on her own. Moments of courage we’ll never get to witness.

We spend years raising our children to become confident, independent people. Then one day, they show us they’re ready to take a few steps without us, and our hearts have to catch up.

Last night, I found myself refreshing my email, hoping for an update and a glimpse of her smiling face. I replayed yesterday over and over, wondering if she was really ready.

Deep down, I know she was.

I’m just learning that I have to be ready, too.

Motherhood is full of bittersweet milestones. This is simply the first of many moments where she’ll walk toward something new while we watch from a little farther away.

This camp experience has become so much more than sending my daughter away for two weeks. It’s become an unexpected season of growth for both of us. I’ve been writing about this journey over on my Substack, if you’d like to follow along, the link is in my bio.

#tozuriwithlove #sleepawaycamp by @makiniregal

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3 months ago

Watching her discover new things, quietly and confidently, is one of my favorite parts of motherhood. ✨

#ToZuriWithLove #Girlhood #ChildhoodMagic by @makiniregal

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5 months ago

There is something sacred about getting to hold your child’s world a little longer.

Not to control who they become, but to witness it closely and to guide it gently. To create enough space for them to discover themselves before the world starts telling them who they should be.

Lately, I have been thinking so much about how short childhood really is. How fleeting these years are, where I still get to be her first teacher, her strongest influence, her safe place, and the curator of so much of her wonder.

So, some days we homeschool at the park.
She climbs trees.
We put our toes in the grass and ground ourselves.
We run barefoot through afternoons that feel endless.
We talk about big ideas.
We negotiate.
We question things.
We make room for curiosity, imagination, and joy.

And somewhere in the middle of all of it, she is becoming herself.

I know I cannot hold onto these years forever.

But while I have them, I plan to be fully inside them.

#tozuriwithlove #homeschoolmomlife by @makiniregal

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5 months ago

It started quietly…just a shift, a feeling, a need for something new. Now this space holds her days, her rhythm, her becoming.

Learning lives here now.

#homeschoollife #tozuriwithlove by @makiniregal

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6 months ago

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10 months ago